The United States and Japan will step up their defence cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

Swan says Qld school sales a sick joke

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says the Queensland government is playing a sick joke if it believes selling schools will lead to a better education system.

Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has already drawn the ire of federal politicians for not signing up to the Gonski reforms. He drew it again on Monday for considering closing or selling unviable schools.

A departmental briefing from August 2012, released under a right to information application, proposed closing 55 schools to save $17 million.

Mr Langbroek said the briefing was out of date.

He admitted that some schools were facing closure, but said the number would not be 55.

"We are working on the new criteria to come up with a list," he told reporters in Brisbane on Monday.

"Any money raised is going to stay within the education department to provide new schools and improve facilities.

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"This is a matter of accepting the fact that we have schools which are under-utilised, sometimes ageing, crumbling relics that have got a very, very low number of students in them."

No regional or rural school would be considered for closure this year, but Mr Langbroek could not offer guarantees after that.

However, he said no school would be closed if distance education was the only alternative for students.

Mr Swan said while the federal government wanted to boost overall funding to Queensland schools by $3.8 billion through the Gonski reforms, the Newman government wanted to auction off schools to the highest bidder.

He urged Mr Langbroek to put kids first.

"How on earth do you create better schools by flogging them off?" he said.

"This must be some kind of sick joke."

The Queensland Teachers Union said selling schools was a short-term solution.

"While we appreciate that the government has to make decisions about how it's going to cover its costs, what we say is that education already operates on the bare bones," union president Kevin Bates told AAP.

The organisation representing parents' and citizens' associations said the community needed to be consulted.